The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. 501(c)(3) organizations are the most common type of nonprofit organization the United States, ranging from charitable foundations to universities and churches. The amendment is named for then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. In recent years many Republicans have sought to repeal it, arguing that it restricts the free speech rights of churches and other religious groups.

President Donald J. Trump

During the Republican National Convention, now President Donald Trump said: “An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away,” Trump said. “I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all Americans.”

If this does happen, and President Donald Trump does rescind the rule, it will be very interesting to see how the Catholic Church, as well as other Christian denominations, will proceed in regards to future elections. Will they allow their pastors, priest, ordained, etc… to promote a certain electoral party or individual?

Fr. Joseph Ratzinger

“The Church will become small.” This was part of a prophetic statement made by then Fr. Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) in 1969. Now you realize why it is called a “prophetic”statement. When you look at the state of the Church now, this statement of his is not that far fetched at all. From the outside looking in, especially on social media, one would think that there are more interpretations of Catholicism than there are Protestant denominations. One person says “This is what the Catholic Church is about” while another person says, “Don’t listen to him, he’s one of those Church of Nice people. We need to be more like Vatican I” and yet you have another person saying something else, and another, and another and so on and so on. In this day and age, everyone is an expert in Catholicism. Personally, I am in favor of President Trump rescinding that law and allowing our Church Leaders to start informing us who is indeed the correct politician to vote for.

Broken Church

If that ends up being the case, and our Church Leaders are allowed to inform us who we should vote for from a “Catholic” point of view, things are going to get very ugly, very hectic, very troublesome and very frightening. It will let us know who is leading us to Christ and who is deceiving us. However, in the end, and it may not be in my lifetime, the truth will come out. The Church may indeed be very small at that time and I’m sure it will have gone through many trials and tribulations worse than ever before, but it will come out stronger, a beacon of light for those who are lost.

The Parousia – The Second Coming

In the end, truth will always prevail. The horrors that we are going through as Christians will come to pass and we will all come together under the Cross of Jesus Christ as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church as we await the Parousia, the second coming of Jesus Christ, King of Kings. This I pray for. Viva Cristo Rey!